Meet Alyssa Joy Lawenko & Michael Ashley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alyssa Joy Lawenko & Michael Ashley.

Hi Alyssa Joy & Michael, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We are lovers who founded the Los Angeles Donation Drive, a charitable organization dedicated to providing clothing and items of need other than food to homeless and financially struggling individuals. Alyssa and I had the idea of this organization when we realized we had much more clothing in our closet than we needed or used. We also considered that many people were quarantining and probably had more time to clean out their closets. In addition, we did not want to give our clothes to the Goodwill, Salvation Army, thrift stores, etc. as many of the customers of these stores are not homeless, nor financially struggling, but rather resellers, hype-beasts, and fashionistas. Furthermore, many homeless and financially struggling individuals do not have the means of transportation, money, or simply the energy and motivation, as many are clinically depressed, to obtain clothing and items from these stores. Due to this, much of the clothing and items of need at these stores do not get to those who are in dire need of them the most.

We initially wanted to do a single day event similar to a huge block party, in which hundreds of people came down to Skid Row, Los Angeles and donated. However, we realized the issues that homeless people face need much more care than a single day event; so we decided to go to Skid Row and donate every week. With the help of our pastor from our personal church, we were able to get connected with The Row Church L.A., who has been holding an outdoor church service on Skid Row every Friday night since 2006. The church passes out food and meals after their service, and we donate clothes.

We currently receive all of our donations through social media and word of mouth and store the donations in a garage at a family member’s home. We have had clothing brands donate brand new clothes and have had people donate money which we used to buy brand new clothes and items of need.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Overall, it’s been a mix of both. Running a donation organization with just two people is tough. At first, we had the obstacle of finding a place to store all of the clothes we received. Finding that many storage places were costly, we resorted to calling places such as the Bin La (a place where homeless people can store their clothes). However, after many calls and visits, we found that there weren’t any bins left for us to use. Fortunately, one of our family members had a storage unit at their own home that they just cleaned out and allowed us to use. It was about size of a very small closet and most of the clothes were stacked almost to the ceiling. Regardless, we were grateful we found a place to store them.

Another struggle we had and are still dealing with is finding volunteers to help us. Most of the time, it’s just Michael and I. We have definitely had other volunteers help us; actually, two or three friends in particular have volunteered several times, along with others who have shown up on a whim. We are grateful for those who have volunteered, but having a lack of consistent volunteers makes developing and expanding our organization difficult. In order to successfully pursue our mission and vision statement, our organization requires more responsibilities, including better inventory tracking, marketing, more efficient means of donating, expanding our donating centers to more places than our usual area at 245 E 5th St in Skid Row, and many other things. Furthermore, lacking people in our organization means less homeless/financially struggling people will get free clothes when we cannot show up certain Fridays due to personal matters. We are in the process of officially turning this into a registered non-profit organization and releasing a mission/vision statement, along with more marketing materials. All of this should help with our efforts in finding new volunteers. In addition, being featured in articles like this one hopefully helps too!

In addition to all of this, one of the biggest struggles we have faced since the founding of our organization is getting enough of the right clothes that people actually need. For instance, around the winter season, it would be freezing cold many days, if not most nights. We spread word via social media and word-of-mouth of being in need of cold-weather clothes, jackets, pants, gloves, etc., but we wouldn’t get enough to satisfy all of the people we were donating to. And many times, if we have a low supply of a highly desired item, such as a jacket during winter, the people we are donating to will fight over it. It’s truly saddening not being able to give everyone the items needed to survive the wintertime. Often, some individuals wouldn’t have shoes, jackets, etc… on in 50-degree weather, or even worse: during rainy seasons. Sometimes we have an abundance of women’s clothes and barely any men’s clothes, leaving those who wear men’s clothes to be left out. It’s tough to not be able to help everyone.

During the midst of Covid being high in LA, we were also fearing our own health while donating, but we made sure to follow CDC guidelines and also enforced the individuals to stand six feet apart and wear masks. However, this was really the least of all our problems since starting donating.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
ALYSSA: Right now, I currently work with the LAUSD as a substitute assistant teacher for Early Education Centers. I really enjoy working with children, especially with this age group (ages 3-6). Working with children reminds me to ignite the inner child within myself. As we grow older, we sometimes lose touch with that. Working with children has actually also added to my inspiration in my real passion, which is art.

I’m known for my creativity. I am a self-taught, eclectic artist. Art for me has been a direct healing of my emotions of soul, mind and heart. For me, art saved my life. It was the outlet for darkness I carried inside for a long time. I want people to be able to know that the pain is only temporary, and there is a beautiful life ahead waiting to be produced. As I work on my own personal business, I am constantly exploring in the themes I want to focus on. I hope to spread messages with my creations and that people are able to connect to them. I’m a big advocate for good mental health and self-care. I’ve suffered from major depressive disorder, anxiety and as I just learned this year, PTSD and a mood disorder. I want to bring positive light to healing, getting help and going to therapy. I hope to mix that in with my passions of creating and community work. My goal is to eventually help communities whether it’s through emotional, mental or physical healing and create an art studio where other creatives can collab.

MICHAEL: I am a musician, songwriter, singer, music producer, DJ, and creator in every sense. I currently work as an A&R with an independent group of music artists and producers. I help bring in talent, run studio sessions, and create beats, loops, and melodies; aside from that, I spend my time bettering my craft as pianist, music producer, singer, and songwriter. I got into this type of work by starting off as a DJ. I DJed pretty much full-time all throughout college and up until 2020. I DJed at most of the big clubs in Hollywood and LA throughout 2017-2019 and hundreds of private events and weddings. I gained some lifelong connections and friends through these events. From all of these connections and DJing, I realized my true passion is music at its rawest core, and I wanted to learn and understand music at a deep level. On top of that, I felt I had hit a brick wall and was losing my passion in DJing because much of what I was doing was not DJing but rather club promoting and marketing, which I enjoyed but was not what drew me into DJing.

The funny thing is, I graduated with a degree in finance in 2017 and was working an intense full-time investment management job from the time I graduated up until January 31st, 2021. So I was basically working two full-time jobs with that and DJing. I definitely was suffering from burnout during that time and felt my personality and energy draining, ultimately going into a deep depression from the lack of freedom working in the corporate world. I had to take a step back and look at my life up until that point, do some soul searching, and ultimately step away from the corporate finance world entirely. Doing that was one of the best decisions I could have at that time because now I am able to spend my days doing things that liberate me and that I actually enjoy.

My interest and passion for finance, technology, and wealth literacy still follow me to this day, to the point that I recently founded a real estate investing company in which my friends and I invest in residential properties. The need for building wealth in this American capitalist society, though very unfair and unstable for a happy society, is mandatory, and I strive to be a force and advocate to empower my people, black people, as well as all other ethnicities and cultures in this area. As a biracially black man, though, and knowing how disadvantaged black folks are economically and politically in the U.S., the black community is especially near to my heart.

If anybody reading this is interested in investing in real estate, feel free to contact me!

What do you like and dislike about the city?
ALYSSA: What I like best about our city is the diversity of people. You really never know who you’ll meet till you have a conversation with them. Everyone has a story; it just starts with saying hello. There’s also a lot of growth and opportunities in the city of LA, especially if you’re a creator. Therefore, it’s easy to make connections anywhere you go. I think what I like least is personally the fact we have an area like Skid Row and many other places similar to it. There’s enough money to help everyone. The number of individuals who are homeless is inappropriate considering how wealthy of a nation the U.S. is; the resolution must start with people helping people. At the end of the day, all these individuals are human beings like us, so they deserve to be recognized and helped.

MICHAEL: What I like best about L.A. is everything, and what I like least about it is everything. I love the people and the diversity; I love how open L.A. natives are in expressing ourselves and our culture to the fullest level. I love the love that we spread to each other, how well connected everybody in arts, music, business, and community work. I love how we stand up for what we believe in and how many of us stand up for each other in times of adversity. I love how energetic, random, crazy, and creative people are from here; there’s a common saying, “L.A. people don’t know how to act.” Of course, I love the weather, the attractions, and the vibes as well.

What I like the least is the lack of self-consciousness and awareness and transparency from many people (L.A. natives and non-natives). There is a very common stereotype among my peers that L.A. people are not straightforward and direct with others, are “fake nice”, will hide their opinions out of fear of judgment or being different, and will be passive aggressive to people they don’t like instead of being direct and blunt (like our friends from New York). I have seen this behavior firsthand from many people since growing up here.

Furthermore, though I said we stand up for each other and help each other here in L.A., there is an unsustainably unhealthy obsession with being famous, being with the in-crowd, and being monetarily successful from many people here to the point that this mindset pretty much controls much of the culture. You can see this firsthand in the amount of people who have personal brands and don’t even get me started with the extreme shallowness of the club scene here. This leads to many people feeling left out, and unfortunately many fights, tension, beefs, and killings to take place. A bigger issue is the leadership in this city who allows places like Skid Row to exist. This leadership mixed with the selfish culture I just described perpetuates the homelessness and depression that runs ramped in places like Skid Row; without a loving society and environment, psychological healing from trauma cannot and will not develop.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/losangelesclothingdonation

Image Credits:
Nikita Suldin Jarrick Wenslow